The park was looking marvellous this morning with the meadows awash with purples and yellows and whites, as well as a wonderful variety of browns caused by the seed heads. Enjoy these fields now, as the haycut will begin soon.
While walking round the fields look out for Wild Carrot, Rough Hawkbit, Greater Knapweed, Field Scabious and Tufted Vetch, plus Dyer’s Greenweed, Tall Meliot, Meadow Vetchling and Lesser Knapweed.
The sounds of insects vibrating included the Meadow Grasshopper and Field Grasshopper, both of which come in an amazing variety of colours from brown through green to pink. On closer inspection I spotted the giant of our insect world the 3” (10cm) long, Great Green Bush-cricket, slowly climbing up the stem of Tall Fescue.
Suddenly above me were a couple of Skylarks, hovering just above the tops of the grasses, for once silent, they then dropped and disappeared from view.
Sweeping out from the copse was a Buzzard, its soft brown and white feathers easy to see as it banked and moved. Below were 2 chestnut brown Roe Deer, the male with his head right in the Blackthorn bushes.
Along the hedgerow, clouds of Gatekeepers (also known as Hedge Browns) erupted as I walked along the flitting alternate dark and light brown making a lovely sight prior to them re-alighting on the bright green leaves and delicate upright, white flowers of Wild Clematis (Old Man’s Beard) – gorgeous at the moment, but we will be cursing its ability to tie itself in knots and clamber everywhere when we are clearing some of the scrub patches over the winter.
Common Blues, Lulworth Skipper, Painted Lady and Red Admiral also seen as was a fairly good view of a Grasshopper Warbler.